Richard Palmer (1837-1931)
}} Obituary from Sydney Morning Herald 24 August 1931 DEATH OF RICHARD PALMER. Coaching Days Recalled. ''' Mr. Richard Palmer, the oldest of Cobb and Co.'s drivers, died yesterday at the residence of his married daughter, Mrs. Stan Latta, at Cronulla. He was 94 years of age. Palmer joined Cobb and Co.'s service in his teens and the story of his life recalls interesting reminiscences of fighting with bushrangers and many privations suffered by settlers outback in the early days of the colony. Once he was bailed up by bushrangers and on another occasion he was present when a bushranger was shot dead by a constable. A native of the Hawkesbury River, Palmer came to Sydney shortly before the wreck of the Dunbar. He was one of the first at this wreck, and helped to pull the sole survivor (Johnston) up the cliffs from a ledge of rocks upon which he had been thrown after the vessel struck. Mr. Palmer made £7 per day in bus fares carrying sightseers from the city to the scene of the wreck. Mr. Palmer was in Cobb and Co.'s employ for 14 years and one of his proudest acts was the conveying of Mr. Richardson senior, founder of the firm of Richardson and Wrench across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst for the first land sale held in Bathurst. He ran coaches from Mount Victoria to Bathurst, from Orange to Wellington, from Bathurst to Trunkey, and from Wallerawang to Cunningham Creek. In the last named service his coach was bailed up and robbed by the notorious bushrangers Stapleton, Rose, and McGrath. The passengers, including Captain Riley, station owner at Rylstone, and Mr Bennett, Cobb and Co's manager at Wallerawang, also twelve women were threatened at the point of the revolver, but Captain Riley was the only one of the party to save his money. He had just sold some property, and had a wallet containing some hundreds of pounds. This he managed to slip under his overcoat into Mr Palmer's hand and it was subsequently handed over to the owner intact. The mails were rifled in the bush. The bushrangers had hoped to obtain gold but it so happened they missed a big haul by being a day late. All three bush- rangers were subsequently captured, tried and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. At a later period, while on the Armidale coach Palmer witnessed the shooting of the bushranger Crowley (who had stuck up Avery's Hotel) by Constable Bowen. After retiring from Cobb and Co's Mr Palmer conducted Brooklyn Hotel, on the Hawkesbury. His wife died some years ago. Two sisters - Mrs Mansfield and Mrs Morley - both reside at Carringbah, near Cronulla. Both are more than 80 years of age. (His 2 sisters named were Louisa Mansfield nee Palmer who died in 1932, and Amelia Morley nee Steed nee Palmer who died in 1937.) '''Changes of surname by daughters: * Julia Ann Palmer married Andrew Peter Cunningham in 1880 * Gertrude Palmer married Alexander L Merrick in 1910. First child born before marriage. * Beatrice Madeline Palmer married Stanley C Latta in 1907